Proposal to raise Yosemite motorcycle entrance fees 150%

[YouSeeIt]

The NPS has proposed to raise the entrance fees for motorcycles in Yosemite National Park by 150%!

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Yosemite-entrance-fees-to-jump-50-5835132.php

Cars' entrance fees will only go up 50%, from $20 to $30. But bikes will have to pay $25 (up from $10)! How do they justify soaking us for almost as much as a car, when bikes (and their riders/passengers) have a fraction of the impact that the cars do?

Please contact the NPS at yose_planning@nps.gov or via U.S. Mail at: Superintendent, Attention: Proposed Fee Increase, P.O. Box 577, Yosemite, CA 95389. Comments are accepted until November 20, 2014. An open house comment forum will be held at the Yosemite Valley Visitor Center on November 12th.

Please contact NPS and point out how excessive this fee hike is. I already sent in my comment - please send your own!

 

[YouSeeIt]

(apologies in advance if I put this in the wrong section, thanks)

 

[NorCalBusa]

Oh hell yeah. That place is freaking overrun with tourists- jack it up and use the dough to keep it pristine. Double for out of state'rs!

 

[bikeama]

I have always paid for an annual pass. Now I have a geezer pass:afm199

The current park entrance fees have been in place since 1997 and current campground rates since 2006. Yes they are hitting the bikes harder, but still worth the cost. Our National Parks are great.

 

[testrider]

No big deal. It's not like I go to Yosemite everyday...

 

[onabikeagain]

Yosemite entrance fee proposed increases

My apologies if this is the wrong subforum for this but it does potentially affect many of us who enjoy visiting parks by motorcycle.

The national park service is proposing to increase fees at many if not all parks and in the case of Yosemite, the fee for motorcycles is proposed to increase from $10 to $25 while cars are increasing by only 50% from $20 to $30:
http://www.nps.gov/yose/parknews/feeincreaseopen.htm

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"30 Day Public Engagement Period Begins Today
Yosemite National Park is proposing to increase entrance fees into the park. The single vehicle entrance fee would change from $20 to $30 for a seven day pass. The park's annual pass would increase from $40 to $60. The current rate of $10 per individual or motorcycle would increase to $15 for an individual and $25 per motorcycle."
****************************************************************************************************

The park service is seeking comments on the proposed increase and there is a link to send comments on the page quoted above. If you care about this, please join in commenting.

I have already sent my comments and indicated that this would increase the cost for my wife and I to ride through Yosemite on our two bikes from $20 to $50 and at that cost, we would likely just go elsewhere. I proposed that a similar increase of 50% in the motorcycle fees from $10 to $15 would be acceptable.

 

[CurveSurfer]

Email sent. $25/bike is a lot, particularly if just passing through (which has low burden on park resources and services).

 

[gixxerjeff]

If the goal is to cut down on park traffic, I suppose ass raping the public with entry fees seems like an effective method.
"Welcome to California, now go home......even if you live here."

 

[matty]

I have already sent my comments and indicated that this would increase the cost for my wife and I to ride through Yosemite on our two bikes from $20 to $50 and at that cost, we would likely just go elsewhere.

If the straight pipe crowd, that seem to like to travel in packs of 5-20, feel this way, I think this would be a good thing for Yosemite.

There's also another thread about it, here
http://bayarearidersforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=466418

 

[packnrat]

no lose to me.

far too much traffic, if i wanted to stew in the heat i would just put around any city.

 

[Yakoo752]

this might change the Hawthorne weekend route :x

 

[jwb]

It would be neat if they charged less for electric bikes, except there aren't very many with that kind of range.

 

[ilikefood]

I have no problem with this. Of all the things to pay for, supporting national parks seems like a very worthwhile thing.

 

[flying_hun]

Merged

 

[onabikeagain]

Thanks for merging the threads.

I am fully in favor of supporting our national park resources and a reasonable fee increase makes sense. However, increasing the motorcycle fee from $10 to $25 is excessive IMHO.

Also, the proposed increase per motorcycle is significantly out of line with the increase for a car and as the park service is asking for comments, it is a chance to provide feedback before the proposed increase is put in effect.

This seems to me to be bias against motorcycles and an attempt to discourage riding into or through the park. I would think that an increase for motorcycles from $10 to $15 would be more in line with the percent increase applied to cars and that is what I proposed in my feedback.

 

[Dmitriy]

This will stand great side by side with charging golden gate bridge pedestrians and bicyclists to use the sidewalk idea. Oh well I'm going to go stock up on air.
Oh well I always took Sonora to Hawthorne I guess this new fee will not help sway me over to Tioga

 

[Burning1]

This seems to me to be bias against motorcycles and an attempt to discourage riding into or through the park. I would think that an increase for motorcycles from $10 to $15 would be more in line with the percent increase applied to cars and that is what I proposed in my feedback.

Loud pipes cost rights. Unfortunately, I've had to have this conversation far too many times. Motorcyclists tend waive the freedom and individuality banner whenever they want to do something self-centered, but never seem to want to accept responsibility for what their actions cause.

Yosemite is a beautiful, peaceful place. A cruiser or sport bike running through their with straight pipes takes a lot away. Bikes have a huge impact for being a fairly small minority of visitors. By being inconsiderate, we wear out our welcome, and start to lose some of the privileges we previously enjoyed.

 

[duh_ave]

while the bike may not "use the road" as much, a single rider uses it just as much as any car with a single passenger
the fee should have base fee (cars and bikes may differ here) for passage +1 user, then add per users beyond

 

[jsolve]

Fee is $15 per motorcycle (no per-person fee); beginning January 2016, the fee will be $20 per motorcycle. Annual pass is $60 and it can be shared with another person. Once you're 62 years old it's practically free to visit most to all National Parks / Federal Lands.

 

[luckyducks]

I'd be in support of banning any motorcycle that didn't pass a specific sound level test at idle and letting the rest in for free.

National Parks are not the city or your local canyon/twisty proving grounds. They are meant to be places of solitude and respect for "natural" space. Your open exhaust and decatted 4-into-1s don't belong there.